The Many Faces of the Filipino

From the discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the Filipino, it is clear that there is much that is good in us but there is also much that needs to be changed. It is also clear that many of our strong points are also the sources of weakness.

As people, we are person-oriented and relationships with others are very important part of our lives. We are thus capable of much caring and concern for others. On the other hand, our person orientation in the extreme leads to lack of objectivity and disregard for universal rules and procedures where everyone, regardless of our relationship with them, is treated equally. Our person orientation leads us to be concerned for people and yet to be unfair to someone.

Our family orientation is both strength and weaknesses, giving us a sense of rootedness and security, both very essential to any form of reaching out to others. At the same time, it develops in us an in-group that prevents us from reaching beyond the family to the larger community and the nation.

Lack of Self-Analysis and Self-Reflection (Weaknesses of the Filipino Character)

Lack of Self-Analysis and Self-Reflection. There is a tendency in the Filipino to be superficial and even somewhat flighty. In the face of serious problems, both personal and social, there is lack of analysis or reflection. We joke about the most serious matters and this prevents looking deeply into the problem. There is no felt need to validate our hypotheses or explanation of things. Thus, we are satisfied with superficial explanations and superficial solution to problems.
Related to this is the Filipino emphasis on form (porma) rather than on substance. There is a tendency to be satisfied with rhetoric and to substitute this for reality. Empty rhetoric and endless words are very much part of public life. as long as the right things are said, as long as the proper documents and reports exist, as long are deluded into believing that what ought to be actually exist.

Kanya-Kanya Syndrome (Weaknesses of the Filipino Character)

Kanya-Kanya Syndrome. Filipinos have a selfish, self-serving attitude that generates a feeling of envy and competitiveness towards others, particularly one’s peers who seem to have gained some status or prestige. Towards them, the Filipino demonstrates the so called crab mentality (referring to the tendency of crabs in a basket to pull each other down) using the levelling instruments of tsismis, intriga, and unconstructive criticism to bring others down. There seems to be a basic assumption that other’s gain is one’s loss.

The Kanya-Kanya syndrome is also evident in the personal ambition and the drive for power and status that is completely insensitive to the common good. Personal and in-group interests reign supreme. This characteristics is also evident in the lack of a sense of service among people in the government bureaucracy. The public is made feel that service from these offices and from these civil servants is an extra perk that has to be paid for.

Colonial Mentality (Weaknesses of the Filipino Character)

Colonial Mentality. Filipinos have a colonial mentality which is made up of two dimensions: the first is lack of patriotism or an active awareness, appreciation, and love of the Philippines; the second is an actual preference for foreign things.
Filipino culture is characterized by an openness to the out-put side ---- adapting and incorporating the foreign elements into our image of ourselves. And yet this image is not built around a deep core of the Philippines history and language. The result is cultural vagueness or weakness that makes Filipinos extraordinary susceptible to the wholesale acceptance of moderns mass culture which often western. Thus, there is preference for foreign fashion, entertainment, lifestyle, technology, consumer items.

Passivity and Lack of initiative (Weaknesses of the Filipino Character)

Passivity and Lack of initiative. Filipinos are generally passive and lacking in initiative. One waits to be told what has to be done. There is strong reliance on others (e.g. leaders , government) to do things for us. this is related to one’s attitude towards authority. Filipinos have a need for a strong authority figure and feel safer and more secure in the presence of such an authority. One is generally submissive to those in authority and is likely to raise issues or to question decisions.

Filipinos tend to be complacent and there is rarely a sense of urgency about any problem. There is high tolerance foe in efficiency, poor service, and even violations of one’s basic rights.in many ways, it can be said that the Filipino is too patient and long-suffering (matiisin). Too easily resigned to one’s fate, Filipinos are thus easily oppressed and exploited.

Lack of Discipline (Weaknesses of the Filipino Character)

Lack of Discipline. The Filipino’s lack of discipline encompasses several related characteristics. We have a causal and relaxed attitude towards time and space which manifests itself in lack of precision and compulsiveness, in poor time management and in procrastination. We have an aversion for following strictly a set of procedures, and this results in lack of standardization and quality control. We are impatient and unable to unable to delay gratification or reward, resulting in the use of short-cuts, in skirting fiction or reward.

Extreme Family-Centeredness (Weaknesses of the Filipino Character)

Extreme Family-Centeredness. While concern for the family is one of the Filipino’s greatest strengths, in the extreme it becomes a serious flaw. excessive concern for the family creates an in-group to which the Filipino is fiercely loyal to the detriment of concern for the larger community or for the common good.

Excessive concern for family manifests itself in the use of one’s office and power as a means of promoting the interest of the family, in factionalism, patronage, and political dynasties and in the protection of erring family members. It results in lack of concern for the common good and it acts as a block to national consciousness.

Extreme Family-Centeredness (Weaknesses of the Filipino Character)

Extreme Family-Centeredness. While concern for the family is one of the Filipino’s greatest strengths, in the extreme it becomes a serious flaw. excessive concern for the family creates an in-group to which the Filipino is fiercely loyal to the detriment of concern for the larger community or for the common good.

Excessive concern for family manifests itself in the use of one’s office and power as a means of promoting the interest of the family, in factionalism, patronage, and political dynasties and in the protection of erring family members. It results in lack of concern for the common good and it acts as a block to national consciousness.

Extreme Personalism (Weaknesses of the Filipino Character)

Extreme Personalism. Filipino view the world in terms of personal relationships, and the extent to which one is able to personally relate to things and the people determines the recognition of their existence and the value given to them. There is no separation between the objective task and the emotional involvement. Thos personlism is manifested in the tendency to give personal interpretation to actions, i.e., “take things personally.” Thus, a sincere question may be viewed as a challenge to one’s competence or positive feedback may be interpreted as a sign of special affection. There is in fact some basis for such interpretations as Filipinos are quite personal in criticism and praise.

Ability Survive (Strength of Filipino Personality)

Ability Survive. Filipinos have an ability to survive, which is manifested in our capacity for endurance despite difficult times in our ability to get by on so very little. Filipinos make do with what is available in the environment (e.g. eking out a living from a garbage dump). This survival instinct is related to the Filipinos other strengths ----- a basic optimism, flexibility and adaptability, hard work, and a deep faith in God. It is manifested in the millions of Filipinos who bravely live through the harshest economic and social circumstances. Regretfully, one wonders what we might be able to do under better circumstances.

Faith and Religiosity (Strength of Filipino Personality)

Faith and Religiosity. Filipinos have a deep faith in God. Our innate religiosity enables us to comprehend and genuinely accept reality in the context of God’s will plan. Thus, tragedy and bad fortune are accepted and some optimism characterizes even the poorest lives.
Filipinos live very intimately with religion. It is tangible, and touchable-----a part of everyday life. we ascribe human traits to a supernatural God whom we alternately threaten and thank, call upon for mercy or forgiveness, and appease by pledges. Thus, prayer is an important part of our lives.

The faith of the Filipinos are related to bahala na which, instead of being viewed as defeatist resignation, may be considered positively as a reservoir of psychic energy, an important psychological prop on which we can lean during hard times. This “pampalakas loob” allow us to act despite uncertainty.

Hard Work and Industry (Strength of Filipino Personality)

Hard Work and Industry. Filipinos have the capacity for hard work given proper conditions. The desire to raise one’s standard of living and to posses the essentials of a decent life for one’s family, combined with the right opportunities and incentives, makes the Filipino work very hard. This is manifested most noticeably in willingness to take risks. With jobs abroad and while there, to work at two or three jobs. The result is productivity and entrepreneurship for some and survival despite poverty for others.

Flexibility, Adaptability, and Creativity (Strength of Filipino Personality)

Flexibility, Adaptability, and Creativity. Filipinos have a great capacity to adjust and to adapt to circumstances and the surrounding environment, both physical and social. Unplanned and anticipated events are never overly disturbing or disorienting as the flexible Filipino adjust to whatever happens. We posses a tolerance for ambiguity that enable us to remain unfazed by uncertainty or lack of information. We are creative, resourceful, quick learners, and have the ability to improvise and make use of whatever is on hand in order to create and produce.
This quality of the Filipino is manifested in the ability to adapt to life in any part of the world, in the ability to make new things out of old scraps, in the capacity to keep old machines running and of course in the creative talent manifested in the cultural sphere. It is likewise seen in the ability to accept change.

Joy and Humor (Strength of Filipino Personality)

Joy and Humor. Filipinos have a cheerful and fun-loving approach to life and its ups and downs. We have a pleasant disposition, a sense of humor, and a propensity for happiness that contribute not only the Filipino charm but also to the indomitability of the Filipino spirit. Laughing ourselves and the mess we are in is an important coping mechanism.
The sense of joy and humor is manifested in the Filipino’s love for socials and celebrations, in our capacity to laugh even in the most trying of times, and in the appeal political satire.
The result is a certain emotional balance, optimism, a healthy disrespect for power and office, and the capacity to survive.

Family Orientation (Strength of Filipino Personality)

Family Orientation. Filipinos posses a genuine and deep love for the family which includes not simply spouse and children, parents and siblings, but also grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, godparents, and other ceremonial relatives. To the Filipino, one’s family is the source of personal identity, the source of emotional and material support and one’s main commitment and responsibility.

Concern for the family is manifested in the honor and respect given to parents and elders, in the care given to the children, the generosity towards kin in need, and in the great sacrifices one endures for the welfare of the family. This sense of family results in a feeling of belongingness and rootedness and in a basic coping mechanism.

Pakikipagkapwa-tao (Strength of Filipino Personality)

Pakikipagkapwa-tao. Filipinos are open to others and feel one with others. We regard others with dignity and respect and deal with them as fellow human beings. Pakikipagkapwa-tao is manifested in a basic sense of justice and fairness and in concern for others. It is demonstrated in the Filipino’s ability to empathize with others, in helpfulness and generosity in times of need (pakikiramay), in the patience of bayanihan or mutual assistance and in the famous Filipino hospitality. Pakikipagkapwa-tao results in camaraderie and a feeling of closeness to one another. It is the foundation for unity as well as of the sense of social justice.

The Filipino Personality

Virgilio Enriquez, a famous Filipino psychologist, says that the question “Who is the Filipino?” cannot be adequately answered. A definition of the Filipino on the basis of birth, geographic origin or blood is inadequate from the psychological point of view. Suggest that in answering this question, attention should be focused on the Filipino Identity, image and consciousness. The Filipino’s identity is not static, it is as dynamic as his background. A Filipino may be described as anyone who feels and thinks Filipino and may be anyone who says he is a Filipino. This statement confounds the issues especially when we wish to describe the behavior of the Filipino. At most, what we can do now is to present some Filipino traits and characteristics with the aim in view of understanding how the Filipino solves his problems of adjusting to his social and natural environment.